A stitch in time Pikeville woman creates quilts & stained glass

Story by Lisa Savage

As a young girl, Renee Talor watched her mother sew, making elaborate wedding dresses and men's suits.

Years later, Taylor taught herself how to sew and began quilting. Her youngest brother built a log cabin, and she wanted to make him a quilt as a gift. “I went down and bought a book and taught myself how to do it,” she says. “It took about a year to make that quilt, but I did it. And I found out that I loved it.”

Since then she has honed her quilting skills, and she’s even taught the craft for the past 30 years. She uses patchwork and appliqué, which are by-hand and machine techniques, for designs she creates. She also uses needle turn, as well as starch and press methods, featuring hummingbirds and various kinds of flowers.

She has dozens of designs available for sale on her website, reneetaylordesign.com.

MOVING TO PIKEVILLE

Taylor grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. She and her husband, Clifford, lived in Panama City, Florida, for many years and would visit their son, who was living in Dunlap at the time. They fell in love with the area.

“We came up here to visit in 2005, and it was a crazy year,” she says. “With the hurricanes, taxes and insurance, we decided we had enough of Florida.” They saw a log cabin they loved and bought it. They have lived in Pikeville ever since.

While Taylor taught herself to quilt in 1970, she decided to expand her talents and took a stained glass class in the early ’80s. “I loved it,” she says. “Creating stained glass and quilt designs are similar.”

She creates her quilt designs at home and displays them on her website. She also goes to four stained glass shows a year and makes it to as many quilting shows as she can. The stained glass studio next door to her house gives her a place to create art and sell her pieces. She’s just down the road from the popular Wooden’s Apple House, and most of her customers find her shop after driving past the sign while headed to the apple orchard.

“People will see my sign and come in and visit to see what I’ve got,” she says. Her antique glass wind chimes are popular, and they make great gifts.

Taylor is now 74, and she and her husband are both disabled. The stained glass studio and quilt designs keep them both busy. “I love it, and I can do whatever it takes to make a little extra to help us out,” she says.

Let BTC Fiber design your website

When it comes to quilt designs, Renee Taylor knows her stuff. Until a few years ago, she didn’t know anything about selling and displaying her quilt creations online, though. That’s why she depends on BTC Fiber for her website needs. “It works out really well for me,” she says. “I didn’t know anything about a website, and they take care of everything.”

The website is easy to navigate, and it’s set up so visitors can message with questions or make a purchase. It’s one of the services BTC Fiber offers, says Russ Camp, chief information officer at BTC Fiber.

The design process takes place in-house, and customers can talk to the designer instead of using an automated domain system based in another state. “They can talk to somebody and work with them to get exactly what they’re wanting in a website,” Camp says. “If using a company that isn’t local, they might find out that the quality isn’t on par with what we’re able to offer.”

Anthony Ladd, local designer and owner of kneelindesign.com, creates the websites and designs. “He does a great job and has an insight to help each client achieve the exact look they want on their website,” Camp says.

BTC Fiber hosts about 30 websites and links to most of them on its own website’s business directory. Once a website is up and running, BTC Fiber continues to provide customer service. “They can talk to us directly if they’re having any issues,” Camp says.

The websites are designed to be easy to navigate, and BTC Fiber offers an array of creative services, from customer packaging to promotional artwork, to set these sites apart from the competition. BTC Fiber can also link any of the clients’ social media accounts from their websites.

Creativity, cost and time also factor in with the initial cost, but on average, a one-page design typically costs only about $5.95 a month to maintain, Camp says.

For more information about website hosting, contact BTC Fiber at 423-447-2121.